Malaysia’s coach K. Dharmaraj was annoyed with his players, especially the defenders.

“Our defence was shaky and it resulted in us conceding five goals from penalty corner attempts,” he said.

His Australian counterpart Ric Charlesworth was delighted with his team’s performance.

“Our penalty corner conversion rate was quite good. It was a good final. I’m happy to win our eighth title here,” he said.

The defeat showed the huge gulf in class between Malaysia and Australia. This is worrying indeed as Malaysia will face Australia in their opening Group A match of the World Cup Finals in The Hague, Holland, on May 31.

On Sunday night, more than 12,000 fans turned up to cheer the national team on but Malaysia, who lost 6-2 to Australia in their round-robin match on Saturday, were simply out of their depth.

Malaysia last beat Australia in the tournament back in 1996, winning 3-1 when it was held in Penang.

Meanwhile, Asia Cup champions South Korea edged China 3-2 in a closely contested match to finish third in the tournament.

Jang Jung-hyun was the toast for South Korea as he took his goal tally to seven with a brace in the 24th and 70th minutes.

Kim Young-jin had earlier given South Korea the lead in the 20th minute.

China’s goals came through Du Talake (31st) and Sung Long (39th).

In the fifth placing playoff, Canada came alive in the last eight minutes to beat South Africa 2-0.

Adam Froese put Canada ahead in the 62nd minute off a penalty corner before Taylor Curran added the second off a field attempt four minutes later.